Violence divides Hong Kong

islam News – Last week, on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China, a man stabbed a police officer on a busy commercial street, then killed himself. Then, on Tuesday, the police said they had arrested nine people — including six teenagers — over alleged plots to make bombs and plant them in public areas.

Authorities cast the incidents as proof of the threat posed by some parts of the opposition. But the specter of violence is seen by some activists as the inevitable result of Beijing’s crackdown, in which restrictive laws have made peaceful resistance impossible.

Some also suggest that police have overstated the threat of violence. Though the police have announced foiled bomb plots since anti-government protests erupted in 2019, few suspects have gone to trial, making the threat difficult to assess.

The events reopened an uncomfortable debate within the pro-democracy movement on whether it condones or supports violence, such as during the 2019 protests, when some threw Molotov cocktails or attacked Beijing supporters. This past week, the attacker drew sympathy online, and bouquets were left where he died.

“I think even in the past year, the line has been pushed forward,” Ivan Choy, a political scientist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said.

Source: The New York Times